Garage door handle



Dec. 8, 1964 A. B. AclEeo GARAGE DOOR HANDLE Filed 001:. 30, 1962 INVENTOR ALFONSO B. ACIEGO FIG.4.

A TTORNEYS "Feato the lower edge portion of the door.

United States Patent "Ce 3,159,867 GARAGE DOOR HANDLE Alfonso B. Aciego, 15227 Freeman Ave, Lawndale, Calif. Filed Get, 30, 1962, Ser. No. ZE LM?" 7 claims. (or. hi -12d) This invention relates generally to handle structures and more particularly to an improved handle for opening and closing garage doors.

Garage doors with which the present invention is concerned are of the overhead swinging .type. The door itself is usually provided with flanges on opposite sides pivoted to joist structures forming the sides of the front frame opening of the garage. Usually, springs or weights or equivalent biasing means are provided so that the door may be swung open without appreciable force by pivoting about the side pivot means to a position in which the door becomes horizontal and is adjacent the upper portion of the front garage opening. The plane of the garage door is thus'changed from a vertical position towards a horizontal positionwhen the door is swung from closed to open position.

The opening and closing of garage doors of the foregoing type is generally awkward. This is because it is necessary for a person to bend over and grasp the handle or similar structure which is usually located adjacent He must then pull upwardly and if the biasing means for aiding in opening the door is of an over-center type, he must retain hold of the door in order to prevent it from snapping towards its complete open position. 7

In closing'the door, it is necessary for the person to reach at least as high as the front center edge of the door in order to pull the door downwardly towards its closed position. Further, when the biasing means reaches its over-center direction in a reverse manner, the door will tend to snap closed unlessrthe user retains hold of the door until it is completely in its closed position.

Heretofore, it has been common practice to attach small chains or a string or rope to the center top portion of the door so that it will depend downwardly when the door is in open position. By this arrangement, a person may grasp the rope to initiate downward movement of the door and thence grasp the bottom edge of. the door and permit it to close gently.

With all of the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object'of this invention to provide a novel garage door handle in which the variou's'difiiculties of opening and closing a garagedoor outlined .above' are overcome.

More particularly, it is an object to provide a novel garage door handle which is capable of assuming vari- Another important object is to provide a novel handle structure fora garage door in which a person will.

at all. times retaih control over the door without havingto assume awkward positions. I

Still another. object is'to provide a novel garage door be manufactured extremely economically, and is, rugged I I and long lasting in. use. i v. v V A i -Briefiy, these and many other objectsand advantages he'ends within theopeni-ngs 19 and '20 of the sides of i of 'this invention are attained by prow'ding a garage door handle structure including a bracket member adapted tobe secured to the lowerfcenter front surface 7 v froni'the bracket structure adjacentto but spaced? from portion ofthe garage door. An elongated handle, in turn, has-one end pivoted to this bracket structure such thatitfrnay assume a first position extending upwardly handle structure which is verysimple to operate, may

7 3,159,857 Patented Dec. 8, 195 4 the surface of the garage door on the upper side of the bracket structure when the garage door is closed. With this arrangement, the opposite end of the handle is at a level at which it may conveniently be grasped.

As a further consequence of the pivoted structure, when the garage door is pulled open, the handle will pivot so that when the door is completely open, its far end will assume a position adjacent the portion of the garage door surface on the opposite side of the brackets so that it will be in a convenient position for grasping when it is desired to close the door. Thus, the handle swings through from its position when the door is closed to its second position when the door is open.

By bending the far end portion of the handle in a direction away from the garage door surface when the handle is in its first position when the door is closed, the bent portion will fall below the level of the front edge of the door when the door is open and the handle is swung through 180 to its second position. Thus, there are not required ropes or equivalent depending pull means with the garage door when the novel handle of this invention is employed to facilitate initial closing of the door.

A better understanding of the invention will be had by now referring to the preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a garage door incorporating the novel handle structure of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the position of the handle structure when the door is in an intermediate position between its open and closed positions;

FIGURE 3 is a view of the handle structure when the door is in its substantially completely open position; and,

FIGURE 4 is a cross section taken in the direction of the arrows 4-4 of FIGURE 1.

Referring first to FIGURE 1, there is shown a conventional garage door it The handle structure of this invention comprises a bracket 11 adapted to be secured to the lower frontcenter portion'of the garage door 10 as shown. Cooperatin with the bracket member 11 is a handle member 12, the lower end of which is pivoted to the bracket member 11.. Y 1

Referring now to FIGURE 2, it will be noted that the bracket member includes a hat plate section 13 adapted to besecured to the front surface of the garage door as by fastening bolts 14 and 15. Opposite edges of the flat plate section 13 are turned upwardly to define sides 16 and 17. These sides together with the bottom section 13 define a channelld. As shown, opposite portions of the sides include openings 19 and 2% Other portions of the sides include slightly out-turned upper edges Zll and 2.2, the purpose for which will become clearer as the description proceeds.

The handle member 12 includes preferably a U-shaped rod. having elongated legs 23 and 24 converging towards each other and thence terminating in out-turned ends 25' and 26.. The arrangementlis suchthatthe out-turned ends 25 anddld may be received within the openings 19 andzilin the sides 16 and 17 when the free end portions of the legs are inserted within the channel 18. The resilient nature ofthe'rod structure'is such as to bias the out-turned portions away from each other so as to hold 27 and nayincludeajoller 28 to provide a convenient j manual grasping means. As shown, the portions of the.

legs adjacent to the connected U-portion 27 .arebent downwardly as viewed in FIGURE 2. 'The direction bf blending is such that when the .handle'is in a first position 3 such as illustrated in FIGURE 1, the connected U-portion will be directed away from the front surface of the garage door 10. On the other hand, when the handle is in a second position, the connected U-portion 27 will be disposed below the level of the front edge of the garage door when the garage door is open.

The foregoing positioning of the handle when the garage door is open is illustrated in FIGURE 3 Where it will be evident that the roller 28 extends below the front edge of the door to enable easy grasping thereof when the door is open. The thickness of the plate section 13 as indicated at d will prevent the legs from engaging the surface of the door and thus avoid marri-ng of this surface.

With reference to FIGURE 4, it will be evident that the slightly out-turned portions 21 and 22 of the sides of the bracket member are designed to engage side portions of the legs of the handle when the handle is in its first position as illustrated in FIGURE 1 so as to urge the legs together slightly so that the handle will be frictionally retained in this position. Also, lower portions of the bracket sides adjacent to the front of the plate section 13 may be bent inwardly to define small ears 29 and 30 to serve as stops for the legs 23 and 24 and insure that the handle will be free of the garage door surface when in the position shown in FIGURE 1 and thereby avoid marring this surface.

In the operation of the device, it will be evident that the handle 12 may be swung between a first position such as illustrated in FIGURE 1 wherein the handle is adjacent to the portion of they garage door above the bracket 11 through 180 to a second position such as illustrated in FIGURE 3 wherein the handle is adjacent the portion of the garage. door adjacent the opposite end of the bracket 11.

When a person grasps the roller 28 of the handle when the door 10 is closed as shown in FIGURE 1, he may easily initiate lifting movement of the door without having to stoop over. As the door moves upwardly towards its open position, the handle 12 will pivot within the bracket 11 to a position such as illustrated in FIGURE 2 so that the person opening the door need not appreciably change his stance. As the biasing structure for the garage door tends to open the door completely, the user will still retain hold of the handle 12 and may thus control the opening of the door, as the handle assumes the position illustrated in FIGURE 3.

In the event the springs for the door are relatively weak so that the door requires a continuous upward force, the handle is so designed that the user may push the door towards its completely open position. Toward this end, it should be noted in FIGURE 3 that the roller portion 28 is below a line passing through the bracket fasteners and pivot openings so that a pushing on the handle roller will function to open the door completely.

When it is desired to close the door as a consequence of the position of the handle as illustrated in FIGURE 3, the roller 28 may readily be grasped by the user since it depends below the front edge of the door. The reverse process of closing the door to that of opening is then carried out wherein the user at all times retains hold of the handle, and as the door. swings. downwardly, he may cushion the final closing thereof. by retaining his hold on the handle 28 until the handle assumes the position illustrated in FIGURE 1 wherein it will be retained by the friction action of the sides 21 and ZZ. As in the case of opening, if the springs are such that a pushing on the door is required to completely close the door, the handle is designed to transmit such pushing forces.

From the foregoing description, it will thus be evioccur to those skilled in the art. The garage door handle structure is therefore not to be thought of as limited to the specific embodiment set forth.

What is claimed is:

l. A garage door handle structure comprising, in combination: a bracket adapted to be secured to said garage door; and an elongated handle member pivoted at one end to said bracket for swinging movement from a first position adjacent to the surface portion of said garage door above said bracket when said door is closed to a second position adjacent to the surface portion of said garage door on the opposite side of said bracket when said garage door is open, said handle member when in said first position extending from its pivoted end towards its free end for a given distance in a straight line direction generally parallel to the surface portions of said door and then following a direction out of the plane of said surface portions so that its free end is spaced from said surface portions.

2. A handle structure according to claim 1, in which said bracket includes means for frictionally retaining said handle member in said first position.

3. A handle structure according to claim 2, in which said handle member comprises an integral U-shaped rod having elongated legs, the free end portions of which constitute said one end pivoted'to said bracket.

4. A garage door handle structure comprising, in cornbination: a bracket member having a flat plate section with opposite upturned sides defining a channel; means for securing said fiat plate section to a front surface portion of a garage door; a handle member comprising an integral generally U-shaped rod having elongated legs converging towards each other and thence terminating in out-turned ends, said sides of said bracket member having opposite openings for receiving said out-turned ends when the free end portions of said legs are positioned within said channel so that said handle is pivoted for swinging movement from a first position in which said handle extends from an upper end of said channel when said garage door is closed through to a second position in which said handle extends from the opposite end of said channel, said legs being bent adjacent to the connected U-portion of said handle in a direction away from the surface of said garage door when said door is closed and said handle is in said first position so that said connected U-portion is spaced from the front surface of said door to facilitate manual grasping thereof and so that said connected U- portion is positioned at a level below the lower front edge of said door when said door is open and said handle is in said second position to facilitate manual grasping thereof.

5. A handle structure according to claim 4, in which portions of said sides adjacent said upper end of said channel diverge away from each other to receive and frictionally engage side portions of said legs when said handle is extending from said upper end to hold. said handle in said first position.-v I

6. A handle structure according to claim 4, including a roller positioned about said connected U-portion to facilitate swinging said handle between said first and second positions.

7. A handle structure according to cliaim 6, in which said roller is disposed below a line passing through said means for securing said plate and said opposite openings when in said second position so that pushing forces may be transmitted by said handle to said bracket.

' 7 References Cited in the file of this patent j UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,973,561 Jackson Mar. 7,1961 

1. A GARAGE DOOR HANDLE STRUCTURE COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: A BRACKET ADAPTED TO BE SECURED TO SAID GARAGE DOOR; AND AN ELONGATED HANDLE MEMBER PIVOTED AT ONE END TO SAID BRACKET FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT FROM A FIRST POSITION ADJACENT TO THE SURFACE PORTION OF SAID GARAGE DOOR ABOVE SAID BRACKET WHEN SAID DOOR IS CLOSED TO A SECOND POSITION ADJACENT TO THE SURFACE PORTION OF SAID GARAGE DOOR ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID BRACKET WHEN SAID GARAGE DOOR IS OPEN, SAID HANDLE MEMBER WHEN IN SAID FIRST POSITION EXTENDING FROM ITS PIVOTED END TOWARDS ITS FREE END FOR A GIVEN DISTANCE IN A STRAIGHT LINE DIRECTION GENERALLY PARALLEL TO THE SURFACE PORTIONS OF SAID DOOR AND THEN FOLLOWING A DIRECTION OUT OF THE PLANE OF SAID SURFACE PORTIONS SO THAT ITS FREE END IS SPACED FROM SAID SURFACE PORTIONS. 